25 October 2023
The latest patient discharged
from Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital, Nuffy the Dog, had been much loved by his owner for
nearly 30 years, and was in turn always a source of comfort to her.
Having accompanied her on many travels, Nuffy was beginning to feel
rather flat, and his fur was getting very matted. After I gave him
plenty of stuffing and a good clean, he perked up again in no time.
It was a similar story with 33-year-old Teddy, who had always been a
very important part of his owner's life. Over the years, his head
started to droop, and his fur lost its softness. A course of treatment
brought him back to full fitness, much to his owner's delight.
20 October
Though not very old, Tommy the Leopard came to Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital
in need of serious treatment. Always
by his adoring owner's side, after 27 years of cuddling he was in
danger of falling to pieces. I stitched him up, gave him new stuffing,
and completely rebuilt his tail. Tommy was very grateful, and so was his owner.
The oldest of my recent patients, a 60-something traditional Teddy,
had unusually retained most of his hair and both eyes, but lost nearly
all the stuffing in his body and arms, and his neck joint was getting
pretty loose. He had also lost his voice, so I gave him a new growler,
and patched him up throughout. After treatment, Teddy looked
practically as good as new!
16 October
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When this 50-year-old Chad Valley bear
called Skoffy came to Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital, he was not at his best.
Though much loved for all his life, he had a couple of stab wounds in
his chest, inflicted many years back by his owner's brother.
Skoffy's nose was somewhat flat from years of hugging, and
he was getting rather short of stuffing too.
Once I have given him a good clean and plenty of new stuffing, I tended
to his wounds, so he was full of life again when he rejoined his happy
owner.
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12 October
Three more bears
have been discharged from Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital following successful treatment.
The first Teddy was brought to me by his
11-year-old owner, who had got him from his great-grandmother (her
husband had won it in skiing competition in Switzerland!) The boy had
to make sure I was the kind of person who
could take good care of the Teddy. I am proud to say I passed the
test))
I repaired Teddy's bow tie and made him a fur vest to keep him warm.
Another Teddy, a 65-year-old Schuko yes/no bear, received new footpads,
which he liked so much that he did not mind me mending some small holes
in his fur and brushing him.
Johnny was the oldest of the three, and by far the most difficult
case. I made him a new arm and performed reconstructive surgery on his
nose, not to mention many more minor operations.
When he saw himself in the mirror after treatment, Johnny was really
impressed with how well he looked!
6 October
You may have heard that The Walt
Disney
Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month.
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By sheer coincidence, I have just had
a patient who has a close connection to Disney.
Lion was presented by Disney to a world famous actor who had voiced a
certain character in The
Lion King!
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For the avoidance of misunderstanding, I
hasten to add that it was not the actor in question who brought Lion to
the
Hospital.
Though still magnificent, Lion had lost a bit of weight over the years,
and
both his fur and his mane were not as lustrous as they once were.
Though not the largest patient I have ever had, Lion came pretty close,
so replacing his original stuffing with more modern and safer polyfill
was quite a task.
Cleaning and brushing him also took some time, and all the while Lion
ensconced himself on our sofa, daring anyone else to share it with him.
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All is well that ends well
though, and I am happy to say that Lion's present owner was quite
pleased with the way he turned out.
30 September
I have just had a cat and a dog
as patients at Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital, and they got on fine while they were here))
Jessie the Cat looked poorly when admitted, but all she really needed
was a good gentle clean and some new stuffing. After a short course of
treatment, she was playful and frisky as a young kitten
again!
Bobby the Dog, who is quite a bit older, required a lot more care. I
gave him a new eye, re-embroidered his lost smile, mended all the holes
in his fur, and completely re-stuffed him. Bobby seemed very pleased
with all this, and his owner was just as happy.
28 September
Earlier this year, a returning
customer asked me to
make two Teddies for her twins out of their baby clothes that she had
kept. We chose the size and the models, and after she brought me the
clothes I played quite a bit with all the fabrics. To be honest, I lost
count of how many different ones I ended up using))
As
you can see, the boy and the girl are similar (I used the same pattern
for both) yet they clearly have different personalities. They seem to
be getting along very well, showing a lot of affection for each other.
27 September
I had three patients at Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital
in the last few days. They were all bears, yet they could hardly be
more
different.
Trevor, a multicoloured toy Teddy, had been with his owner all her
life, and had a lost nearly the entire red part of his costume. The
owner's boyfriend found and sent me a suitable replacement fabric, so
Trevor was
whole again and full of life by the time he left hospital.
The white Teddy called Bi the Bear had travelled extensively with his
owners, and had lost a lot of stuffing and nearly lost his tail. Once I
reattached his tail, gave him plenty more stuffing and
a good clean, he perked up and was ready for new adventures (though he
will probably now need some new t-shirts in a larger size).
My third patient was a large traditional Teddy at least 60 years old,
inherited by his owner from her grandmother.
Though remarkably well preserved for his age, he had a couple
of bad wounds on his neck and forehead and a few smaller holes. When he
was back home after treatment, his owner said he would be
treasured for another three generations!
19 September
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Earlier this year, a returning customer asked
me to make her a Memory Bear out of some clothes that her late
mother used to wear.
She chose a model from my website and sent me a nice navy floral dress
and pink pjs. I decided to use the latter for the bear's paw pads and
bow.
I also made use of some buttons from the dress, as well as its sash,
which became the Bear's necktie.
One last detail was the insides of the Bear's ears, which I made out of
the plain navy pockets of the dress.
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18 September
In the last few days,Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital
has had a couple of big cats among its patients (though it would
probably be more accurate to describe them as little big cats in this
instance).
Tigger only really needed a hole mended on his
back. While he was here, however, he also agreed to have a good bath
(Tiggers can be a bit wary of baths as we know).
Leo the Leopard came with some serious
injuries, having lost his nose and one eye in a dog attack.
Fortunately, his owner had retrieved them from the assailant, so I
was able to put them back for Leo.
The
feline monopoly was broken up by New Ted, who was very grateful to have
the wound on his neck treated, as well as getting some new stuffing.
16 September
56-year old Ted, a Chad Valley bear, came to
the
Hospital
in
a rather bedraggled state, having been much loved and cuddled for all
his life.
His paw pads were tatty, he had many holes, had lost some
stuffing and more or less lost his nose and smile too.
He still had good eyes though, and - amazingly - the squeaker in his
tummy was still working
fine. It was a most
ingenious rubber one, the likes of which I had not seen before (see the
photo on the right).
After a good clean and an intensive course of reconstructive and
cosmetic surgery, Ted was full of life and smiling again. His owner
says she shed a little tear of joy when she saw his first post-op
photo.
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12 September
A variety of species were
treated at Sasha's
Teddy Bear
Hospital in August and September.
They included a Monkey
with a scuffed nose, who had lost his smile; a sad bunny called Arjun
Arjun, who had lost a limb and a lot of stuffing; and two disparate
members of the Fur family - Furry Dog, who had plenty of holes in him,
and Furry Ted, who just needed a bit of plumping up.
I suspect he checked
himself into hospital just so that Dog did not feel lonely)
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